3 Mar 2010

An early start last Sunday saw hundreds of indie pop kids descend on Islington for London Popfest 2010 featuring headliners The Wake making only their second live appearance in nigh on 20 years. Some slightly older IPKs made their way to The Lexington via a pleasant diversion in one of London's finest hostelries, The Wenlock Arms (where a rather apt Wake Ale pumpclip was spotted atop the bar).

Horse Shoes, comprising one guy out of The Drums, a guitarist and a backing tape were the third band on and the first one we caught. The tunes were catchy enough and they had a certain stage presence but what was going on with those guitar solos!?

The Wake headlined the afternoon session and came on stage to a dreamy backing tape. The performance was as tight as it had been in Brussels contained something Factory- and Sarah-era Wakeheads alike. Thanks to David Cooper for making a good first stab at the setlist.

Afterwards, Caesar revealed that more dates are in the pipeline with Paris and NYC in May being first up. More details when we have them.

It was good to see Paul, Emita, Mark, Iain and David. Let's do it again next weekend in Brighton for ACR.

"Manchester, 1978. In the beginning there were four: Jez Kerr (bass), Martin Moscrop (guitar/trumpet), Peter Terrel (guitar/effects) and Simon Topping (vocals/trumpet). Four thin boys with a name borrowed from a Brian Eno record, the intense, drummerless quartet initially drew influence from Wire, Eno, the Velvets and Kraftwerk, and gained a manager in Anthony Wilson of Factory Records.

"May 1979 saw the release of their first ACR single, the dark All Night Party, although the sound and musicianship of the band would be transformed by the arrival of funky drummer Donald Johnson (DoJo) in August. Over the next few months the band gigged widely, often with Joy Division as part of Factory packages, and recorded demos with producer Martin Hannett as well as a Peel session. Their support slot with Talking Heads on their UK tour in December 1979 set David Byrne on a new course, and provided the compelling live half of their chic cassette package The Graveyard and the Ballroom. Post-punk, ACR now reflected the influence of Funkadelic, George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, The Bar Kays and James Brown."